


Pretend You Know This Song

by anidear



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Dick unknowingly meddling, M/M, Reverse Robins, general Batfam chaos, hinted one-sided jaydick, self serving fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:09:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29005830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anidear/pseuds/anidear
Summary: Reverse!Robins: Dick has an announcement to make at breakfast that reveals a bit more than Damian was ready for.
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd (hinted), Jonathan Kent/Damian Wayne
Comments: 9
Kudos: 204





	Pretend You Know This Song

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mlim8](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mlim8/gifts).



> Go read [this](https://mlim8.tumblr.com/post/640938591462326272/bonus-was-screaming-about-this-idea-to/) and allow it to consume your life the way it has me. And then blame Mel.

Damian and his father were already seated at the table in the small dining room the family used for regular meals when the others started filtering in. It had been a particularly rough night on patrol, both Jason and Richard getting a little more roughed up than usual, so it was unsurprising that everyone was slow to wake. Though, had it been a working day, he was certain his father would have managed to pull himself out of bed long before he actually did.

“Tim, I was unaware you stayed the night,” his father greeted his second eldest son as he entered the room. Damian was unsurprised by the raised eyebrow and silence from his younger brother was he took the seat just to the left of the eldest of the Wayne kids. It was as far away as he could get from the man he still struggled to be around. Not that Damian blamed him.

There was a soft scuffing sound of socked feet being dragged on a Persian rug as Jason entered the room and slumped in the seat next to Tim. Damian knew that if either of them had been more aware, they would be on opposite sides of the table as well.

“Good Morning, Master Jason,” Alfred greeted as he set a plate in front of the teenager before he set one down in front of Tim as well. 

“Morning, Alfie,” Jason intoned before diving headfirst into the plate of food without greeting any of the others around him. It was all very mundane and ordinary for each of them. After years of being a family, however mismatched they were, they had become terribly predictable.

More unsurprising than all of the other entrances to the dining room was Richard’s. Despite having only been with them for a little over a year and still suffering the loss of his parents, Damian couldn’t help but compare the boy to a literal ray of sunshine. He had no idea how the thirteen-year-old managed it, but he always managed to seem so cheerful. Despite the various bandages and bruises that could be seen over what bits of skin were exposed, he still bounded into the room with a bright smile. 

Damian watched him greet each family member over the top of the newspaper he was reading, grudgingly accepting the hug he gave the eldest so freely, before the teen bounced over to his seat by Bruce. 

“Morning everyone,” the boy greeted with a warm smile before turning that smile upward to Alfred as the man set a plate in front of him. “Thanks, Alfred.” The older man smiled and patted his head before heading back to the kitchen. “I have an announcement,” Richard’s voice sounded from his chair, and Damian glanced up to see him smiling _that_ smile with his hands clasped in front of him.

He could see the others at the table look over at Richard and regard him carefully. Rarely ever did Richard not command the attention of whatever room or crowd he was in. The acrobatic nature of him wanted the attention. In a small, family setting it was no different.

“So I’ve decided! When I grow up, I’m going to marry Jon,” he offered up freely, and Damian felt his eyes roll immediately before dropping them back down to the paper in front of him. He heard his father let out a chuckle, something only Richard could pull from the head of the household, and he noticed Tim regarding Jason, who was frozen looking at the youngest. “He’s kind, and smart, and handsome,” he listed but Damian found himself more interested in the growing smirk on Tim’s face as he continued to watch Jason for some reason.

A quick glance at the teen showed he was still frozen watching the youngest. 

“And he can fly!” Richard finished his list off with a bright smile on his face, seemingly proud of the list of reasons he had made in Jon’s favor. And though Damian couldn’t exactly fault the younger for seeing Jon’s better qualities, he was a little disturbed given the age difference between his best friend and his younger brother.

“WHAT?!” Jason’s outburst seemed to catch everyone but Tim off guard and Damian made a mental note to ask the other man about that. “EW!! NO!!! You can’t marry Jon! He’s already _so_ old!” Damian glanced over at Richard as Jason ranted, clenching the paper a little tighter at Jon being deemed “old” when Damian was two years his senior. He decidedly ignored the smirk Tim sent his way despite seeing it out of the corner of his eye. Bastard. “If you marry him when you’re older, he’ll be like 1,000!!” Damian watched Richard’s face turn confused, brows pulling together as Jason spoke.

While Damian didn’t see the harm in Richard’s little crush, he was still young after all, Jason seemed to be completely outraged by the idea. A glance at the other two adult at the table told him his father was simply exasperated and trying to ignore the situation but Tim looked almost…amused as he typed into his phone. He really needed to get to the bottom of that.

“Besides, you can’t even date him!” Damian grabbed his tea as Jason continued and tried to go back to reading the paper. “He’s gonna marry Dami!” The words caught him off guard enough to cause him to spit out the tea he had just taken a sip of. 

“Wh-what?!?”

“W-we are not, Todd!” Damian found himself exclaiming, eyes wide as he took in the determined look on Jason’s face and the tears welling in Richard’s eyes. _Damn it all to hell_ , he grumbled mentally. The last thing he wanted was a crying Richard. 

“Liar!” Jason turned an accusing finger on Damian. “I saw you smile at him during patrol!” Damian sat there for a moment, stunned, before he noticed a movement out of the corner of his eye and looked over at Tim. 

“Drake! Are you recoding?!”

That damn smirk slid back onto his face. “No.” 

The sigh his father heaved from his end of the table was loud enough to draw Damian’s wide eyes. He could see Richard with his face buried in his hands and buried in his father’s chest. “You boys are lovely this morning,” the man said flatly, an arm wrapped around Richard’s shoulders.

“Father…!” Damian gestured over to the other two, one who still hadn’t put down his phone and the other who was no glaring at the food in front of him. But his father simply raised an eyebrow and started to rub circles on Richard’s back.

“That is certainly enough of this conversation,” Alfred stepped into the room and immediately took Tim’s phone out of his hand. Despite the protests from Tim, Damian knew Alfred would most likely delete the video. “Can you boys please finish up your meal without another incident? Master Richard, you have yet to touch your food.” His tone went from hard to soft as he reached the youngest who was still clinging to his adoptive father. “Why don’t we put this behind us for the time being and enjoy the rest of our meal?” There was a muffled sniffle before Damian saw Richard’s head nod and him slowly sit up. But he kept his eyes downcast as he moved back to his chair and refused to look at anyone as he started to slowly eat.

Damian found himself clenching his fist to keep from getting up to comfort the boy. He knew that after the year of practically being his father, he would always struggle not to be the one the teen turned to when he was upset. But this time, it was Damian he was upset with. So he pushed the instinct down and stood from his seat.

“Titus come,” he called for the dog who had been laying at his feet the entire debacle as he stepped away from the table. “It is time for your walk.” He didn’t bother to look at anyone other than Richard as he left the room, but not even a glance was sent his way. It bothered him more than he wanted to admit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The evenings patrol had been quiet, and Damian found himself thankful for that given his mind kept going back to what had transpired at breakfast earlier in the day. He could tell Richard was still upset about the events, but Damian had no idea how to make the situation better. He didn’t want to encourage Richard’s crush given that yeah…maybe him and Jon were something to one another. But he also didn’t want to stop him from behaving as a young teenager should. The only thing he could think of to do was request that Robin join Nightwing on patrol instead of Batman.

And though the teen was a vigilant as ever, Damian knew him well enough to notice that he was always just on the edge of saying something. It wasn’t until they took a moment to just observe the city below them that he seemed to have gained the courage.

“D…” he started, and Damian bit his tongue at the reprimand that wanted to surface at the nickname. “I’m sorry I said I was gonna marry Jon,” the teen said quietly, latching onto Damian’s wrist. The apology was definitely not what the elder had expected. “I didn’t know you were dating.” And though the almost heartbroken sound of Richard’s voice made his chest ache, Damian wasn’t sure what to say.

“N-No names in the field, Robin,” he chastised him carefully. What was he supposed to say to Richard? He didn’t want to lie but he also didn’t want to explain something he wasn’t even quite sure of himself. The fact that Jason had picked up on it was enough to show that perhaps Damian wasn’t keeping his feelings as under wraps as he thought. “Let’s head back. I do not think there is any reason for us to remain out tonight. We can have some hot chocolate before bed,” he offered as an acceptance of the apology.

And when Richard’s smile went from sad to it’s usual brilliance, Damian knew he had made the right call. What the consequences of his lack of denial would be, he’d have to deal with them later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been a few days since the incident that shall not be named took place and Damian found himself letting Jon into his Bludhaven apartment after having just handed Richard over to Alfred to take home after he had stayed over for the weekend. He hadn’t been expecting his best friend, but he didn’t find it an unpleasant surprise so he didn’t complain.

“Dick already gone?” Jon questioned, glancing around to see the chaos the teen had left behind but not the teen himself. Damian only hummed with a nod as he picked up various items the teen had upended or left behind. He made a pile of things to wash and things to return the next time he was in Gotham, which likely would be in the next day or so. “So….”

Damian looked at Jon over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow, noticing he was rubbing the back of his neck. The bashful act immediately put Damian on edge. “What?”

“Why did Dick tell me that he approves of our relationship?” Damian froze in mid reach for an item and instead stood up, arms crossed over his chest. He knew he looked as annoyed as he felt. _Damnit Richard_. “Are we in a relationship?” 

Damian huffed a breath. “Ignore him. It was Jason who put the thought in his head the other morning,” he waved a hand at the other man and went back to picking up the items strewn about his apartment. 

“But now I’m very curious as to what exactly happened,” Jon teased, and Damian sent him an annoyed look before entering his room and depositing the laundry into his dirty clothes hamper. He knew that Jon would follow him, but he still rolled his eyes when he turned and found the taller man leaning on the frame of the doorway. “And maybe I don’t want to ignore what Dick said.” That caused Damian freeze for the second time in a matter of minutes.

“What exactly are you implying here, Kent?” He let the laundry basket drop the few inches he had picked it up back to the floor, turning to find the man standing just behind him. “Jon?”

Jon’s blue eyes traced over Damian’s face and the older man found himself holding his breath as the man searched for whatever it was he was hoping to find. “Maybe I’ve just been waiting for some kind of hint and Dick finally gave it to me…” Whatever Jon had been looking for he must have found because his warm hands rose to cup Damian’s face as Jon stepped a bit closer. 

“A hint toward what?” Damian whispered, focusing all his strength at resisting the urge to look down to Jon’s lips that were moving closer with each passing moment.

“That this would be a welcomed gesture,” the man muttered, leaning forward and effectively closing the space between their mouths. And though shock reverberated through his body, Damian allowed his eyes to slip shut so he could enjoy the moment for however long Jon allowed it to take place. If he was going to offer this side of him so freely to Damian, who was Damian to deny him something he himself had been yearning for for years?

**Author's Note:**

> Come chat with me on tumblr [here](https://mlim8.tumblr.com/post/640938591462326272/bonus-was-screaming-about-this-idea-to/).


End file.
